I Suspect...The Mailman!

Mailperson? Not sure if I need to be politically correct here. But regardless, you heard right--I sort of suspect that my mailperson is stealing my good mail. As in, every correspondence from Loft--coupons, Style Rewards, etc. Where are they?! And I'm still waiting for the Pure Protein variety pack that I won a few weeks ago, but they did say it takes 4-6 weeks. So that's probably normal. I just want fun mail instead of no mail or worse--bills! Yikes!

Anyways, I didn't make it for round 2 of cardio tonight, but I was definitely working it at Loft today! Let me tell you--prepping for Black Friday sales is insane! Add in that half the new girls are lazy when it comes to keeping the back room organized and markdowns that were missed from last week and I became a bit more than stressed. If it were any other week, fine! But it's the week of Thanksgiving/Black Friday and we really just need it to run smoothly! ...Not that it won't, but I just get very particular about things sometimes. I got a LOT done though! The store is looking G.O.O.D!

In other news, Fear Factor (FF from now on) audition tape planning is going pretty well! Just need a team name that's sure to wow.

And lastly (yeah, I'm tired--short/pointless post)--can anyone recommend any songs for my gym playlist??

Little Bears of Guilt

I have a confession--yesterday I stopped into work to fill out an expense report and got sucked into helping with store set (aka changing around the entire visual presentation of the store). I actually LOVE the visual aspect of my job, and it definitely helps that corporate sends us documents of how to set the store for the most part. Or at least how to set the new product--the old product is more of a "where do I fit this in" kinda thing. But since I wasn't planning on being out of the apartment for a couple hours, I was starving when I got back. And I had previously purchased a $1 bag of gummy bears from Target earlier in the day. First, I had about a serving atop some frozen FF cool whip. That turned into the whole bag. A food coma and shame immediately set in. I've had prouder moments. Did I mention dinner was Afghan food and a couple beers?

While I'm not on prep, I still get the feelings of guilt when I make such a nutrition faux pas. Today's sole purpose is to combat the excess cals and sugar and attempt to feel better about my waning body image. Luckily, the gummy bears are gone. And I ate the last of my processed food, so upon my next grocery trip, I'm sticking to the perimeters rule--shop the outer walls of the store which contain more real food. Complete with real nutritional value. Oh, and 45 minutes of cardio this morning helped a bit. I think round 2 at the gym is in order tonight. After all, Thanksgiving is coming up and I can't be feeling all gross and puffy before I attempt to avoid the bad foods. Blowing diet for a holiday meal is overrated. As long as there's turkey, I'll be okay (and luckily I hear there's going to be asparagus too!).

Speaking of holidays, my wish list is sort of pitiful. Although I realized today that I possibly want need a new macbook--I'm tired of the spinny beach ball taunting me numerous times a day! Other than that, I repeat--pitiful! (Dear family--if you're reading this, I know that request is far-fetched and don't actually expect a new laptop.) I think my list of gifts to get others is longer than my list for myself, but there's nothing wrong with feeling generous!

Anyways, here's to hoping I make it to the gym for cardio round 2 tonight! I'm off to work--40% off pre-Black Friday?? This must mean that Black Friday deals are going to be crazy good/the store will be organized insanity!

On another note--a friend and I fully plan on getting on Fear Factor! Hopefully more to come regarding this random tidbit of info...

I Made It!

Happy Monday! Good news--I made it through the Crossfit workout my friend put me through, and then some! He was nice enough to send me plenty of links to youtube videos of the workout we would be doing, the Cindy. I am a COMPLETE Crossfit amateur. As in, never done a Crossfit workout in my life up until Wednesday evening. I went into it a little lot wary and intimidated. I walked out of it pretty darn confident...and beaten down physically!

Cindy

If you're never done Crossfit before, or you've just never done the Cindy WOD, it's this"

• 1 clean and jerk/press
• 5 pull-ups (or ring rows upon fatigue)
• 10 pushups
• 10 air squats
• Repeat for 10 sets, increasing clean and jerks/presses by 1 rep each set.

We only did 7 of the 10 rounds, and by the time that last round came around, I was struggling to get the bar above my head for the press portion of the clean and presses. Luckily, I had a decent "instructor" who emphasized the importance of throwing your full body into the movements--after all, it is a total body workout. It's definitely something different than I'm used to, since I lift to target certain body parts on certain days and am unable to "throw my full body into it" for lack of actually working the targeted body parts.

The Crossfit workout was challenging for sure, and although intimidated by some of the other workouts mentioned, I think I would be open to trying another one again. Apparently there's one workout that's purely 150 wall balls--yikes! Although, thinking about it outside of the gym, not fresh after just having gone through my first WOD, it does seem a bit less intimidating. Just a bit though.

Other Fitness Happenings

What else have I been up to since then? Well, checking in/working out with Pleasants, for one. And this was the morning after my Crossfit workout--not my best idea ever. My body fat percentage has crept up just a bit--nothing too alarming, but I really need to focus on adding more protein to my diet. Most days I'm go, go, go, especially when I have to drive to Richmond for work and stay at my brother's apartment overnight. I feel a little ridiculous packing an entire cooler of food for less than 48 hours, especially when I'm not on prep. My nutrition could definitely be better, especially going into the holidays, but I'm making up for it with my energy expenditure--I'm in off-season, and yet I'm still at the gym for 1 - 1.5 hours 7 days a week. I feel very unproductive and puffy when I skip a day.

That being said, I really am trying to embrace my 3 day split, but I tend to enjoy 4 day splits better--chest/tris one day, shoulders another, back/bis another, and legs the last day. Pleasants wants to see me doing a 3 days split of chest/shoulders/tris, back/traps/bis, and legs. I prefer working shoulders separately and don't necessarily think this is impeding my progress, but if it is, I take full responsibility for it.

New shoes make working out that much better!

On top of my muscle-building splits, I've been trying to get the most out of my cardio, and even took it outside of the gym yesterday. Three friends and I went hiking at the local Humpback Rocks yesterday--one of the friends being Jared, the Crossfit warrior (ha!). Umm, let's just say that to him, hiking up this thing is beasting up it and nothing short of running up the last, steepest stretch. Unfortunately, Megan took all the pics and I took none, so I'll have to wait until I get those from her to show you all the amazing view.

And one more thing--I threw up some 35# dbs doing chest press on Saturday! Could have done 40#s but I needed a spot, just in case. Next time!

Thanksgiving Week

Family get-togethers are definitely interesting with my family. And I'm sure this year will be no different. In contrast to last year, I'm actually more excited to work off the food I eat than I am excited to eat it. That being said, Gold's is open at 8am on Thanksgiving day and then normal hours Black Friday. You best believe I will be in there both days doing what I do best!

In pictures, the things that I'm looking forward to:

Sending Thanksgiving cards.

Seeing a lot of this gent--maybe in a less
provocative pose...?

Baking more of these next week!

In less than two weeks I will be on the road going up north, accompanied by these sweet treats. Hopefully I won't get into any of them, because they're not actually for me!

Fun fact: Before you get on with your lives/Mondays--I can't be the only person that still looks for the Indian with the shooting star...

I think he's more common now?

Temporary v. Permanent

Well, not so much temporary or permanent, but rather temporary and permanent. I still haven't readjusted my schedule/time management skills, so it has been quite some time since I last blogged on a regular basis. Add onto that internet connection problems for the better part of a week, too. I promise I'm getting there though--I just recently read skimmed through the 400+ new blog posts that racked up on my Google Reader! Here's hoping that doesn't happen again! And in this new vow, I also promise to get back to commenting SOON!!


Holidays...?


Before I really get into the temporaries and the permanents of this post, here's a not-so- brief recap of the past few weeks. Halloween has come and gone, but not without some fun and festivities. A pumpkin carving get-together was a must at Megan's house with a group of old and new friends. As always, my overachieving lead me to this masterpiece:

Hardness: 4 out of 4 pumpkins!

 Let's see that again, shall we! One picture just doesn't do it justice ;)

Now I don't know if it's my old crappy, but cheap apartment, or if it's normal, but this sucker didn't last too long. Started molding and getting smelly after about a week. Finally, when my roommate and I couldn't stand the smell, it died a slow (or fast?) death in the dumpster. But hey, I have photographic evidence of its magnificence and that's all that counts!

More Halloween weekend festivities included a dinner, Guitar Hero, and drinks.

Sometimes I love getting all glam--and not for work!

Insert your own caption here. 

And then of course Saturday night was the night to get decked out! I may have outfit repeated from last year, but I swear I wore it better this year!

Last year.

This year.

Believe it or not, but last year I was also The Little Mermaid one night. Or attempted it. Umm yeah, don't worry--I'm not going to bother horrifying you and embarrassing myself with those photos. Just checked back for them, and not only am I extremely pasty and pretty drunk, but I'm not in the best shape either. Not that I was in bad shape, but I had other goals at the time (aka having too much fun that more times than not involved alcohol).

Retail Therapy?

So yes, Halloween has come and gone and now it's November! Which brings me into the temporaries. As you all know, the full-time job didn't work out, but now I'm working on other plans. This involves a lot of working at Loft, which I DEFINITELY don't mind! For the past few weeks, I have been averaging over 30 hours, which is almost unheard of in retail unless you are a manager. While I'm hoping to make this somewhat permanent (though in another store, same company), I'm temporarily helping out our Richmond store at Short Pump through the holidays. Which means I've been bumped back up to sales lead! Pretty much, this is the only way I can keep that title at this point in time, and since I'm trying to move up and hopefully work my way into corporate, I am more than willing to do anything to get there. Well, anything within reason.

Hello, Holiday!

This is what 120+ boxes of shipment looks like...

For those of you that are not too familiar with Virginia, Richmond is about an hour away from Charlottesville. Luckily, I'm only working there 1-2 days a week and my brother lives downtown there, so I can stay with him when necessary--thanks bro! Also, it helps that I get generously reimbursed for gas. That just means more money for my moving fund!

Which brings me to the first "permanent" of this blog post. I'm looking to move sometime in the new year. I would prefer that it be sooner rather than later, but according to my assistant manager, the company as a whole "cleans house" after performance reviews come out in April. On the one hand, if the temporary traveling sales lead position takes me through holiday, my assistant manager will be on maternity leave soon after so I can remain a temporary sales lead through most of February and into March, probably. From there, April is only a few (short?) weeks away. And my lease goes into May. On the other hand, I would really love to get settled into a new city before then with a new position--I'm hoping a co-manager position. But really it's all up in the air with the availability of positions before April.

Busy schedule + forgetting a paper plate = this.

I'm excited for the coming weeks at work! Holiday is by far my favorite season in retail, although the busiest. Fun colors, fun people (sometimes), and just the air about the season. Slight panic, excitement--it's a bit of a thrill. Add in the excitement of getting to meet the Regional Vice President and possibly one (or two!) of the company's executive directors, and I'm BEYOND stoked! That's something I would not have the opportunity to do if it weren't for my commute to the Short Pump store. It pays to be flexible!

Muscle Mania

My workout program is once again temporarily revamped. For the next few weeks, it's 5 sets of 5 reps, heavy sets! Am I nervous? Nah. Am I amped? Yes, definitely! Although, my first words to this were "Man, now I have to make more friends at the gym, so I can have a spotter when I need one." Ha! I'm really not against making gym friends, but many people who go to "workout/lift grrrrr" spend wayyy too much chatting between sets. And I really don't need anyone ogling me when I'm working out and thinking that I'm coming onto them by asking for a spot. I kid not! The guys at the gym that I frequent think that if you walk one foot closer to them to re-rack weights you are pretty much asking for a comment from them. Uh, let me check--No!

The only thing I'm nervous about regarding heavier lifting is looking more awkward than I already do. I'm about 80-85% sure that I have decent form, but there are some things that have been added to my workouts that I am not really that great at--deadlifts, I'm talking to you! So heavier = more awkward = "Look at that chick that clearly doesn't know what she's doing!" I'll be okay, promise!

Oh, and if that's not intimidating enough, a new friend wants to put me through a Crossfit workout. He said he likes to judge his progress against this video:

As if I've EVER done a clean and press in my life! I may not come out of this workout unscathed! He's putting me through it on Wednesday evening, so if you don't hear from me on Thursday, I died a quick death.

It feels good to be back!

And an epic comeback to Words
With Friends! 126 points!

PS. Look who visited the barber shop!

Half bunny rabbit, half dog.

ALL adorable!

Can you tell what his favorite way to lay is?

WILW: Confused Blogger Edition!

Morning lovelies!

I am ready for the day! Just got back from the gym a bit ago--hit chest and tris, and BOY am I going to feel this tomorrow! Speaking of the gym, my training has been a little weird, but GOOD!! Ever since I postponed on my competition yet again, I feel like I have a renewed motivation. I am excited to get big (muscle, not fat!) and I've been working my butt off to make sure I don't slip too far off track. My goal really isn't supposed to be to lean out at this point, and I really haven't been aiming for that anyway, but at the same time, I do want to see my body fat go down a bit more and I want to see my body mass remain fairly constant.

I'm hoping a low hat will make me
unapproachable to the creepers at the gym...

I have not been hitting any two-a-days, though this does make me feel guilty at times, but my plan right now does not require two-a-days. I'm still sticking to my 5am wake up call, because that's when I feel like I am at my best. Nutrition surrounding my workouts has changed too, and I think for the better. My protein shake has been moved to directly after my morning workout instead of before. Before, I am supposed to have protein and carbs, but I find that 2 rice cakes with 2 tbsp of peanut butter does the job. Although I may cut out the peanut butter, still wary of fats.

Since changing this up though, my energy has been through the roof! I honestly can't remember a day since Kevin moved that I had stayed at the gym until 7am. I usually get there right before 5:30 and am done by 6:30-6:45. Well all this week, that has changed. The clock hits 7 every morning and I am either still at the gym, or just leaving--gotta love it! Part of this, though, is because I'm no longer wary about being on time for my job (because I am no longer "stuck" in it). And speaking of which, some job related stuff actually made it's way to my WILW list! I meant to do a post last week, but I'm still catching up on reading blogs, and was trying to scratch that off my to-do list before I posted again. So without further ado, I give you:

WILW: Confused Blogger Edition...
This week, here is what I'm loving:

• My Loft manager, Caroline--I can honestly say I have never had the pleasure of working with a manager sweeter and more accommodating than Caroline. When I was going through the difficult time with my failure at a full-time job, Caroline was so understanding. And the sweetest part is that she totally didn't have to be. I felt like I had left her high and dry to replace me when I had only just stepped into my leadership role at Loft. I kind of felt like I had let her down and put her into this time crunch of a situation to find someone to replace me. But when I approached her that fateful Monday that I decided the full-time job just wasn't my thing, she was so compassionate that it's not even funny. Side note: when I get super stressed out, my emotions go haywire, so what I wanted to be a normal conversation with Caroline turned into exactly what I expected, a bawl-fest on my part. Word had already spread a bit that I was unhappy at my new job, but this was when I decided that throwing in the towel was the hard but better decision. I asked if she would give me more hours at work while I figured things out finding a new job (she had already found a replacement for me, as was expected), and she assured me that she would. She is even keeping me in my leadership role while my replacement finished training and my assistant manager goes on/comes back from her vacation (so another 2 weeks-ish). I couldn't ask for a more generous manager!

Eating noodles out of a cup on break.
I forgot a plate!

• The job hunt...kinda--It's official, Charlottesville has a major lack of full-time employment, or anything remotely relevant/worth my time to apply for. In my job search, I have come to find that most posting on online job search websites are: a. scams, b. too good to be true, or c. attempts to lure college grads into a subpar job for little money and long hours. Fail. And while I do have a 4-5 hour long interview with a new home company coming up, I think it's in my best interest to work toward my medical sales certification. This is where the "love" part comes in--medical sales is a lucrative job, and I've applied for some positions, but they all ask me follow-up questions including the dreaded "Are you certified for this position?" My answer has typically been "No, but would definitely obtain such certification upon hiring." Wishful thinking, but not what they want to hear. So, I've decided to be proactive, and with the (financial) help of my mom, a training packet is currently en route to my apartment. I have to pass a test in order to earn my certification, and seeing as I haven't taken any anatomy classes since high school, it was only practical to purchase the training kit. Don't worry--this isn't a scam, it's one of the 2 certifications possible that most companies look for. So slowly but surely, I am getting there!
• A life/job-search related decision--In addition to good ol' Cville having no relevant full-time jobs, it has been losing its appeal to me. I think I'm ready for some new adventures (well, as adventurous as one can be when they don't care for drinking and are pretty much a homebody nowadays). I have been realizing a few things:
• Most of my friends are trickling out of town, such that in a couple years, I probably won't have many friends here my age since most of the ones I know are students at UVa.
• Charlottesville is not a young city, with the exception of the University. It's more of a city where you would settle down with your family. There are not many "young jobs" as I like to refer to them, and almost anything I find here will have me in a similar situation as the job fail--working with all married women/people, and most with kids. Not that I have anything wrong with any of that, but I would prefer to have some people my age with whom I hang out.
• I feel claustrophobic here. I know that last year around this time I had already made the decision that I was staying, but I just want out. I've heard on numerous occasions that "Charlottesville is a small town" and while I don't do anything crazy to get a reputation, I don't want my resignation to come back and bite me in the butt (although I do not plan on pursuing a job in the same field--EVER).

That being said, I have officially expanded my job search outside of Charlottesville and actually outside of Virginia. I don't think Charlottesville has enough opportunities at this point in my life, I know that I don't want to be back home in Virginia Beach, and I definitely don't want to be in some small rural area, nor do I want to be in Richmond. But I do want to remain somewhat close to some of my family, so we will see. I plan on having the medical sales certification taken care of in a month, and then I will start applying elsewhere (not that I'm not applying for anything now). 

• Fall weather & flavors--and actually being able to enjoy them (kinda)! I have yet to order a salted caramel mocha at Starbucks, though I desperately want to! But my room is adorned with seasonal scented candles, room spray, etc. My oats are decked out with pumpkin flavors galore! I have a loaf of sweet potato bread somewhere in my kitchen (shhh, don't tell anyone!). Overall, fall is treating me pretty well, although I could do without all the dreary rain!

Beautiful fall morning!

Followed by a cloudless night :)

• Holiday season--yes, it's officially that time in retail land. Holiday 1 came upon us just the other week, and so far I am loving what I am seeing! That being said, it's taking a lot of restraint to not buy everything in sight! I gave myself a $200 limit, but I really need to start saving money since I have no idea where my job hunt will take me. And I'm in the mood for some out of town roadtrips in the coming months! 

With all these life changes in store/in progress, it's hard to look past a day at a time currently. So with that said, I do not know when and where my first competition will be, but I know that as the pieces of my life start to fall into place, my training, motivation, and energy can only get better. 2012 is the new year for my competition, and I can only imagine how much stronger--both physically and mentally/emoitionally--I will be when I finally step foot on that stage!

What are you loving this week? Have you ever decided your city didn't have enough to offer you and made a life transition--how did it go??

The Little Puppy That Lost Her Way

There once was a little puppy. Her name was Liz. She thought she knew what would make her happy, thought she would set some goals along the way. What she didn't realize was that she wasn't considering what made her happy, but she was only considering what was expected of her. She followed along on that misguided journey for a few sad, lonely, frustrating weeks, until she confessed to herself that she couldn't do it; this person she was trying to be just wasn't her. So she strayed off the path and found herself in the middle of the jungle. She was surrounded with the twists and turns of knotted vines and no path to follow. And that's when it clicked--she had to make her own path, and get to her destination on her own time. After all, she was only a puppy, so she has her whole life ahead of her, right??

In case you hadn't guessed, I've found myself standing off the path to my goal. In more than one aspect of life. But before I get into the nitty-gritty details of it all, I want to let you know that I am/will be okay. Worrying doesn't do much good, so I'm finding the optimism in everything.

The Job

I don't think I've ever been more wrong about something in my entire life. I've been gone from Blogger for the better part of 3 weeks now, and having just skimmed back over my last post, I must admit that I was wrong. The new "A-mazing" job? Not so much. As much as I tried to convince myself that I was that person that could handle sitting in front of a computer hours on end, working on a billable hours paradigm, and not interacting with people on a regular basis, I just couldn't do it.

The last time I blogged, I was 2 days in, so I was still in reading mode, and trust me--that was more boring than anything. I almost fell asleep numerous times! When I was finally done with all my reading (by Thursday), I was given bits and pieces of tasks, no real guidance, and I would only get tidbits of training at a time. Then I would have a dozen bits and pieces of tasks thrown at me, not knowing how to prioritize these since I was so new, still no guidance/training, and did I mention it was the end of the fiscal year?? Definitely not the best time to hire a new employee.

I started realizing my doubts the first weekend--I worked at Loft all weekend, but I couldn't help but compare my fun, interactive Loft job with my face-to-face-with-a-computer-all-day-every-day job. People kept asking how it was, and I didn't know what to tell them. I hadn't done much, I didn't know what to do, and I felt like no one had the time to tell me. By Monday morning, I left the gym BEFORE 6 (I had gotten there around 5:20!) feeling unmotivated, and I sat in the car, on the phone with my mom bawling my eyes out.

For as much as parents do not want to hear their children cry, they do not want to hear that their child doesn't like her first full-time job. So as my mom started to react to the situation: "What!? You just started there--you can't not like it when you have only been there a week!!" I proceeded to hang up on her (note: not a proud moment there, but it's become habit when I'm frustrated). I drove the really short drive home feeling so alone and so miserable and fighting back the tears that came out anyway.

At work that morning, I felt more tired than ever, more run-down than ever, and generally not in a good mood. And nothing changed from the week before, except that I was given longer tasks and the one girl on my team that works remotely every other week was in the office. I kept having to tell myself that I just had to make it through to this upcoming weekend (I'm going out of town for a fun visit!). But as much as I told myself I could do it, every day I got further in, the more miserable I was feeling, the more alone, and the more tired/unmotivated/frustrated/stuck. I was even lashing out at friends and family. I was a non-stop complainer (of which I'm generally not).

By last weekend, I had let word loose at Loft to my assistant manager that I didn't like my new job. I wasn't looking to stay in my sales lead position, because I know how that works and I didn't want to be an indian taker-backer (for lack of better phrase). I had actively started applying for any and every full-time job I could last Monday, and by Tuesday morning, I already had a phone interview set up. I felt like that was definitely a sign.

I stuck it out through the weekend, and by end of business Monday (3 days ago), I realized I couldn't keep deluding myself. I may be a people-pleaser, but sometimes I just have to do what's right for me. I honestly could not picture myself working at that company for 6 months...a year. I realized that I wasn't stuck--I have control over my life. The job had me so stressed out that I was unnecessarily checking work email at 11pm, in the middle of the night when I got up to use the bathroom, and over the weekends. I was having legitimate nightmares about it. And my training went to crap. True fact: I've only been in the gym in the evenings mayyyyybe twice since I started the job. Granted, I only skipped one morning...

So Monday night, I realized I could only be mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy if I did what's best for me. In this case, that was sending in my resignation. After going into Loft, crying to my manager, asking her if she could give me some hours next week while she is on vacation. And of course she said yes. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful manager, it's not even funny. I know I can't continue with my sales lead job past the 2-3 weeks I have left to stay in it, but I know she will definitely help me out.

As for the other boss--she completely understood too. She said I was doing a great job, but if I'm miserable doing a good job, then she understands. I didn't burn any bridges, but I'm not going to put this on my resume any time soon. So now, I'm back at Square One, and I don't even have a sales lead role to look forward to. But as I said earlier, it will all work out.

The Competition/Training

In light of the recent events and the blow to my motivation, I am once again postponing my competition date. I realize and am willing to admit that I lack the motivation that I had for what was supposed to be my original competition date back in July/August. Then, I lacked the money. Now, I lack the motivation (and the money will become an issue again...student loans have to be paid back starting November!).

I met with Pleasants today and we are going to go with a bulking phase and settle for a competition in the new year (hopefully Spring--and I'll be competing alongside my friend, Toni! Although she does bodybuilding, not figure). I'm much more calm about this decision because it was exactly that--a decision. It was a conscious choice on my part, not because I can't afford it, but because I want to be my best and I think that I need to go this route in order to get there.

I think this has been one of my proudest moments in recent time. I know that everyone says that you're supposed to get a full-time job right out of college, etc etc, but I don't think that's the course for me. Yes, I would love a full-time job, but not in my field. I'm an interactive person. I'm a people person. I would rather be happy making less money than miserable making more money. And to be honest, I wasn't making all that much for the depth of work that I was doing.

I do want to do a quick shout-out: I haven't kept up with much blogs (I promise to catch up soon!) but I checked to see how Lacey's competition went the other weekend. I was so sad to read that pneumonia kept her from the stage, but her attitude surrounding the whole thing was so calming and inspirational. She recognized the work she put in (trust me, we all recognize the amazing work she put into her training!), but in the end she had to do what's best for her. I like to think that I took a page out of her book and gained the courage I needed to make my own decisions this week.

I may be that little puppy off the path, but I am still on a journey. Some journeys take longer than others, but I still see my destination, and I will make the best of the path I follow until I get there!


I have missed you, my blogging family! So glad to be back!

Single Digits and Firsts

Goodness, I am SO behind on blogging, and after only 2 days of work! First of all, let's talk about:

Work

Umm, the new job is A-mazing!! Sadly, my work assignment manager was not in the office Monday morning because her son was home sick. But of course, I got the welcome email and another listing tons of materials I should read up on via the EPA website. Needless to say, it's been an overwhelming influx of information. And yet, I love it. The rest of my time was spent making address labels for a conference to be held in Puerto Rico. Tedious, yet it was my first "billable task" so I'm sure I will always remember it.

Yesterday was much the same, except I met with the HR manager and got to fill out LOADS of paperwork. Anyone know how to fill out a 401k?? I meant to call my mom to figure that out last night, but I had a very frustrating night at Loft. My home to-do list is not getting any smaller anytime soon...

The Most Frustrating Night Ever

Some people are just extremely inconsiderate and selfish. My frustrations last night stem from last week when my assistant manager at Loft was making this week's schedule. I had previously talked to my manager about helping out and working some evenings while they find a replacement for me. My manager asked if I was able to work a couple of nights from 6-9 while they do. Well, my assistant manager refused to take into account that if she put me on the schedule for 5:30, all I would have time for is the commute between the two places. And of course, that's what she did.

I had about 2 seconds to run into the neighboring Panera and grab a salad, even though I have about 10 pounds of cooked food in my fridge at home--yeah, I'm not about to pack 4 meals a day. I hate spending money on food when I don't need to. On top of that, I was already supposed to be on the clock, so I didn't even have time to eat it. I had to wait til my 2 closing associates got to the store and I ran to the back and stuffed my face. But that wasn't the end of it.

As my assistant manager was leaving, she mentioned that the floor cleaning guys were coming that night and gave me some papers with an inadequate explanation of what I needed to do when they got here. All I knew was that they were coming at 8, which is when we close. Well, of course they get there at 8:05 and sign the papers and ask if it was okay if they quickly grabbed food before they started. I didn't have to be there while they were cleaning the floors, but I had to be there to give them the keys and physically watch them lock me and my closing associates out of the store. Well, they asked when we would be finished (aka what time they should be back from grabbing food), and I said 8:30. Um yeah, they didn't show back up til 9:05! Then they took their sweet time bringing their stuff in. The guy apologized for "being a few minutes late," and instead of grabbing quick food somewhere in the shopping center, they went down the street where it supposedly took "20 minutes to make a burger." Buddy, I know bullshit when I hear it.

Needless to say, I was NOT pleased and I was definitely not expecting to work a 12 hour day. It would have been nice too, if I had a heads up of the floor cleaning guys before I walked in the store yesterday. I am so sorry for venting, but it was just not the kind of night I needed. I physically and mentally do not have the energy for that crap! I am going to have a major sit-down with my manager today--she has me on the schedule again for 5:30 next Friday. There is no way I'm going through a night like last night again. It's NOT OKAY!

Training

Still getting used to working out alone, but Toni has jumped in some days so we get to workout together. What a sweetheart! I find that although I can't lift quite as heavy, I take very little rest periods which is helping keep my heart rate up. And fatiguing my muscles quicker. I'll take it!

Weight it going down, even though I somehow accidentally snuck an extra meal in yesterday. Don't let that fool you, I was starving and stressed! On top of that, I also accidentally doubled up my workouts on Monday and did a chest workout alone in the AM and shoulders with Toni in the PM. So I guess it somehow evens out. I will be ready to SLEEP this weekend!

I'm still getting used to timing my meals at the new job--I don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of anything by eating multiple times. But we do work through lunch, which I actually prefer, because I don't need an hour to eat. Give me 5 minutes, and I promise I can scarf down more (prep-friendly) food than you can imagine! I guess I'll feel it out, but for a couple weeks I'll have to adjust meal timing. I'm thinking if I make at least one of my meals a protein shake, it will be a bit better.

One thing I'm sad to see go--my gallon water jug! I don't want new coworkers to think I'm crazy before they've really gotten to know me, so for at least the meantime I have switched to a more appropriate liter water bottle. I will admit, it's easier to schlep around!!

Oh, and the "single digits" in my title--I'm down to (less than) 9 weeks until the competition! I. WILL. BE. READY!! You can bet on that! Just need my love handles and hammies to shape up PLEASE!

I realize pictures are pretty absent today, my apologies! With all that's been going on, I do not have time to do the whole paparazzi shindig!